Surface treatment of sheet materials



p@ E99 E933, a. P. WALKER. AL,

SURFACE TREATMENT OF SHEET MTERILS Filed Dewa '5. 1931. 3 SheSS-Shea Sept. 19, 1933.

E. Pv. WALKER e1 AL SURFACE TREATMENT OF SHEET yMATERIALS Filed Dec. 5. 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 BY (AL/U5 5. WALKER RNEY.

Sept' 19, 1933- E. P. WALKER Er AL 19927375 SURFACE TREATMENT 0F SHEET MATERIALS Filed Dec. 5. 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 i if IN VEN TORS Zaag/VE P, M24/(ER. [/{L L /A M EHR/ WRHY and By Jz/ U5 WHL/(ER.

. MVM

Patented Sept. 19, 1933` SURFACE TREATMENT OF SHEE'I" MATERIALSv Eugene P. Walker, William Earl Wray, and Julius B. Walker, Reidsville, N. C., assignors to The American Tobacco Company,lNew York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 5, k1931. Serial No. 579,334`

17 Claims. (C1. 51"-139) The present invention relates to apparatus for, and processes of, surface treatment, and to the resulting surface-treated products, and it hasV a particular eld of application in the surface treatment of continuous sheets or Webs of materials, such as wrapping tissues, papers, films, and the like, which are being passed into a machine Where they are to be further treated and/ or utilized.

Although not restricted thereto the invention Will be described in its application to the pretreatment of a continuous sheet or web of material having a non-cohesive surfacing, such as moisture-proof transparent materials formed from cellulosic derivatives, for example, of the type known as Cellophane, especially Where the material after treatment is passed mediately or immediately into a Wrappingv machine, as for example, automatic` machinery for continuously wrapping cigarette packages and other tobacco preparations.

It is frequently desirable to apply labels,` stickers, tabs and/or stamps to the exterior of packages wrapped with such moisture-proof transparent materials having anti-adhesive surfacings,

such surfacings being usually applied for the purpose of lending increased moisture resistance. It is most dicult and commercially impracticable to attach such stamps, labels or stickers directly to such surfaces in View of the fact that the usual surfacings have no particular affinity for, or adhesive qualities in respect to, the various mucilages, glues, gums and other adhesive materials commercially utilized.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to treat the surface of such .wrapping materials so that the Wrapping tissue and/or the Wrapped articles will readily receive and substantially permanently retain stamps, labels, stickers and/or tabs uponY attachment thereto by the usual commercial adhesives.

In accomplishing this object it has been found desirable to abrade, scratch, roughen and/orremove portions of the anti-adhesive surface coating of such moisture-proof transparent Wrap- Y ping materials. Labels, stickers and stamps, upon adhesive attachment to such treated portions of the surface of the Wrapper or the wrapped package Will be substantially permanentlyretained. In view of the'fact that most of these Wrapping materials are utilized because of their transparency and moisture-proof qualities, it is preferable to abrade or remove the surface over as small an area as possible since such surface treatment to a large degree destroys the transparency and/or the moisture-proof qualities. In addition the surface treatment to remove or abrade the coating should be effected in such a manner as to weaken the'strength of the Wrapper as little as possible.

Another object is therefore to provide an apparatus and process for treating wrapping tissues and similar materials of the character described, which will remove, "abrade or otherwise affect predetermined surface areas sufficiently to receive gummeld or adhesively attached stamps, labels, and so forth, Without substantial injury to the Wrapping materials, as by decreasing their transparency and/0r moisturejresistant qualities, and in such aA manner that the strength of the wrapping material Will be substantially unimpaired.

Ordinarily in commercial automatic Wrapping machinery the wrapping materials are removed in the form of a continuous sheet or web from rolls and are continuously or intermittently fed to the wrappingmachine, the sheet being cut into suitable'psized sections, which are then Wrapped about the packages', all of theseoperations being timed so that they will be performed at predetermined-intervals and' in a desired sequence.

Another object of the present invention therefore is to provide an apparatus and process for automatically'treating spaced portions of the surface of a continuous sheet of Wrapping material being fed to a Wrapping machine, said apparatus being of Vsuch construction as to be operated incidentally to feeding of the Wrapping material to the wrapping machine, and to be actuated directly or indirectly from the mechanism of said Wrapping machine. n 90 'Still another object `is' to provide an apparatus and process for treating the surface of continuous sheets of wrapping tissues, which apparatus is so arranged and constructed that the surface treating element may be applied at one stage of the 95 operation, and then withdrawn at another stage of operation, all automatically and incidentally to operation of the machine utilizing the Wrapping tissue.

Other objects are in part obvious and will be in part pointed out during the course of the following description.

In one embodiment of the invention the surface treating mechanism or arrangement is supported upon the frame of a wrapping machine, Which may be of usual construction, and is preferably of the type commercially employed in Wrapping cigarette packages with a transparent moisture-proof Wrapping material. The continuous sheet of said material, upon being unrolled,

is caused to pass through the apparatus of the present invention before it is passed into the wrapping machine, or into the other processing machine. Customarily the continuous strip of wrapping material is fed'intermittently to the wrapping machine, and the mechanismv of the present invention is most desirably arrangedso that the surface of the wrapping material will only be processed or treated during intervals between the forward movement thereof. f

In this embodiment the web or sheet of wrapping material is passed between two faces, a xed backing face usually of a soft, pliable compressible material such as felt, and a rough abrading face, preferably consisting'of va belt or other applicator for carrying emery or another abrasive material. The belt may pass over a head, which is pressed against said backing face. During the contact the abrasive face may be readily reciprocated over the area of the surface of the wrapping tissue to be treated. This abrasion contact preferably only takes place during the periodwhen the sheet of material is stationary, rand is discontinued by withdrawal of the abrasive face and its supporting head upon further advancement of .the contaotinghead, is cleansed, as by a rotary brush. This cleansing operation will remove the dust and other abraded particles from carrier thereby preparing it for further contact with the wrapping material.

The abrasive carrier may be automatically applied to, and withdrawn from, the surface of the wrapping strip by a reciprocatory driving means actuated from the mechanism of the wrapping machine, while the reciprocation and cleansing of the abrasive carrier are most desirably effected from an independent power-source forming part of the surface-treating mechanism of the present invention. The connection between the reciprocatory driving means and the abrasive carrier is preferably resilient and adjustable, so that the contacting pressure between the abrasive carrier and wrapping tissue may be suitably regulated. Y

The independent power for the abrasive carrier reciprocating arrangement may conveniently take the form of an electric motor, which may actuate a shaft, carrying the rotary brush and an eccentric arrangement, through a belt drive. The eccentric may be provided with a driving connection, as a link, to cause the desired short reciprocatory movement of the head. As a result of the reciprocation the belt will be intermittently contacted with the rotating brushv for cleansing purposes.

The belt may also be caused topass over a pulley, which pulley is preferably provided with an eccentric adjusting arrangement to tighten the belt, and with a concentric ratchet and pawl arrangement to cause the gradual replacement movement ofthe belt as a result of the reciprocation above described.

In the drawings, which show one embodiment of the inventionz Y Figure 1 is a side elevation of the arrangement with the abrasive carrier "in contact with the wrapping strip; j

Figure 2 is a rear View of the arrangement with the abrasive carrier removed from the Wrapping strip;

Figure 3 is a front View partly in section upon the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view upon the line 4 4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a View of the wrapped package indicating the application of the surface-treated wrapping material; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view upon Vvthe line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

In Figures 1 to 4 the angle supports 10 extend upwardly from' the wrapping machine and arc ybolted at 12 to the machine-frame 11 (see particularly Fig. y1) ,which may be part of a wrapping machine or some other mechanism for receiving and further processing the wrapping sheet after the surface treatment. The supports bars 14 have adjustable slotted connections 13 to the side members 10. At their .opposite ends the bars 14 receive the rod 15, said rod being fixed in openings in the ends of the support bars 14 by the set screws 16.

The frame 17 or" the surface treating mechanisrn is suspended from the rod by the hangers 18, which are centered by the collars 19 (see particularly Fig. 2) said collars having a slotted adjustable connection at 20 to the frame 17. The lower portion of frame17 is recessed at 30 and is provided with a rearwardly extending arm 31, the rear end 32 of which is provided with a boss 33. Into an opening through the boss 33 is press iitted a pivot rod or stud 120 (see particularly Fig. 6).

. The reciprocating head is also provided with a rearwardly extending arm 46 which is pivotally supported at its rear end upon the said rod 126 by the nipple or hub 121.

The hub or nipple 121 carries and forms a bearing for an eccentric belt tightening bushing or collar 122 ywhich is provided with the knurled end portion 35. The collar 122 may be locked in any adjusted position by the wing screw 36, which screw has a threaded shank or extension 124, tting into a tapped hole in the end of the stud 120. The wing screw 36 clamps the base 125 of the eccentric 122 against the end 126 of the stud To turn the ratchet wheel 38 the arm 46 is provided with an upwardly-projecting ear 46 carrying an actuating pawl 47, the detent pawl 48 being secured to the arm 31.

The belt 5G which may carry an abrasive such as emery or another ,surface-treating material,

passes over the head 45 and the knurled pulley 37.

shaped rack 65, which actuates a push rod 66 having a pivotal connection at 67 to the forward end of the arm 31 of the frame 17. The push rod 66 slides through the head 68 of the swivel stud 68' and is provided with the adjustable collars 69 and 70, the spring 71 between the collar 69 and the head 68 of the stud 68 serving as a resilient transmission between the rack and the rod 66. The stud 68 is carried by a hanger 72 which has a slotted connection 73 to the rack 65. The rack 65 is guided upon the pulley 74 and is The V-pulley 55 the frame 11.

shaftjby the split collar 77.

The backingplate 85,over which the sheet 104 is passed, has a -soft and compressible` facingV -86, andit is provided with a hanger 87,w hich is supported upony the horizontal rod 88. The ends of the =rod 88 are provided with hangers 89 `lwhich are adjustably xed upon the rods 90 by means of the set screws 91. The rods 90 are carried upon the vertical support rods 92 by the clamps 93.

-The sheet roll 100 is supported upon' the rod 102, theends of which rest inthe recess 103 in -The wrapping sheet 104 iis passed over the guide rollers 105, 106, .107, 108, the rollers 107 and 108 serving to'correctly position it when it passes between thehead and the backing plate 85. The" feed rolls`109 and 110 which may respectively have facings of rubber and steel, are supported on the frame 11 and with-*the shaft 76 are' driven from the main machine. Y T In 'operation the wrapping ymechanism will cause the feed rolls 109 and 110 to advance'the wrapping sheet 104 intermittently. .Between successive advances ofsheet 104, the mechanism will also actuate the. shaft 76 to elevate the rack' 65 resulting in a pressure contactbetween the abrasive face of the-carrier belt and the surface of the sheet 104, the sheet being'pressed by the head 45 against the felt facing 86. The amount of pressure may be regulated so that the surface will-be removed only to the desired extent, by the collar 69, which controls the compression of the spring 71',- said spring serving as a' transmission member. During all this time the head 45 and the contact face of the belt 50 are being rapidly reciprocated by the eccentric head 52 through `the link 53, saidhead 52 being driven from the motor 58 through the V-pulleys 55 and 57 and the belt 56.

Immediately upon the next advancing movement of the rolls 109 and 110, the rack 65 with its arm will be moved downwardly by the shafts 76 into the position shown in dottted lines. As a result that the push rod 66 will withdraw the head 45 from contact with the surface of the wrapping sheet.

The reciprocation of thehead 45V as above described will result in oscillatory movement of the'arm 46 with-the attached pawl 47, turning the ratchet 33, as a result the knurled pulley 37 will be rotated and the belt 50 will be advanced, the detent pawl 43 preventing retrograder movement of the ratchet. The pulley 37 will turn .with the ratchet 38 and its knurled face will prevent slippage between the belt and the pulley. The slack in the belt 50 may be taken up by adjusting the eccentric bushing 122 by gripping its knurled head 35, after loosening the wing screw 36, which bushing 122 after adjustment may be locked in position by the wing-screw 36.

The above-described reciprocation of the carrying head 45 will also cause an intermittent contact of the rotating brush 54 with the abrasive surface of the belt 50, as a result removing dust and other abraded particles therefrom. As shown in Figure 1 the belt is moved'rearwardly on top and advanced forwardly on the bottom, so that the brush 54 is contacted with the belt shortly after it is removed from the head 45.

The brush 54 may be replaced under vsuitable Aconditions by other .cleansing devices, or even by ture-proof qualities. sion was along the grain, the wrapper is weakened ing materials or substances upon. the carrying belt. y

1 It will be noted that the frame 17 is pivotauy suspended while the contact head45 and its arm 46 are in part supported from the frame 17 by pivotal connection with the rod 120 and are in part suspended by the link 53.

Since the wrapping sheet orl web '104, particularlywhen ofthe type of material known as Cellophane `is formed in such a fashion that thek grain of the basewill extend longitudinally thereof, the abrasion'or scratching will similarly eX- tend longitudinally along the grain and will thereforeweaken the sheet or web as little as possible.

v The width ofthe belt carrier 50 and the amount of .the reciprocatory movement from the eccentric 52 may be conveniently controlled so that only as small a space-upon the sheet or web as is necessary will be treated or abraded. In one installation the belt has a width of 1", thD eccentric causing the head to move through an amplitude.r of 1". As a. result an abraded surface of 1 .1" was formed..

It will be'noted'th'atthe rolls 109: and 110 and the shaft 76may beso timed and correlated with the wrapping machinery that the abrasion of the sheetorvweb will only .take place when it is not being advanced.

Upon Figure 5 is shown a typical 'cigarette package 120 wrappedin a transparent material,

the wrapping having an abraded portion 121, the dotted Vlines .122 indicating the size of the sheet before itis attached to the cigarette package. It rwill be noted that only a lrelatively small portion Y vof the wrapper is affected, so that there is but an inconsequential loss in transparency and mois- Moreoverl since the abrato but a slight extent. The depth of the abrasion and/or the amount of the removal of the surface material may be conveniently regulated by the adjusting collar 69 and the spring 71 and may be varied with the particular wrapping material and with the particular surfacing emand that the mechanism may conveniently be associated with machinery other than wrapping or cigarette packagingmachinery of the character described. By suitable changes the abrasion treatment might be directly applied to the.-

wrapped package or preparations.

The various elements of the mechanism shown may beconstructed of any suitable materials, and it has been found satisfactory in one instance to form vthe bars 14, the wing screw 36, the pulley M 37, the ratchet 38, pawls 47 and 48, yoke 51, the j eccentric 52, the hub 53,"the swivel head 67,` the clamps`93 and the stud or pivot rod 120 of steel; the frame hanger 18, the collars 19 and the eccentric 35 of bronze; and the Aframe 17, the arms 31 and 45, the head 45, the rack 65 and the backing plate of'aluminum; the head 45 and the arm 46,with its hub 121, and the frame 17 and the arm 31, and the pulley 37 and the ratchet 38 'respectively preferably consisting of unitary Where the wrapping material is to be wrapped l'.

about cigarette .packages'of the approximate dimensions 2% 21/8, the wrapping strip may have a width of about 3%" and the abrasion mechanism a total height of about 6 from the swivel bar stud 68 to the top of the support 14 and a width of about 5 between the supports 14. These dimensions of course will vary greatly depending upon the width and character of the wrapping sheet, the construction of the wrapping machine, the type of surface treatment set forth.

As many changes and modiiications could be made in the machine and method above described without departing from the essence ofy the invention, it is intended to include all such modifications, variations, and/orV alternatives as will come within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A surface treating mechanismcomprising means to intermittently feed the material to be treated, a treating face to be applied to said material, means actuated from said feeding means to apply said treating face to said material during the intervals between said intermittent feeds, means to replace said treating face between applications thereof, and means to renew the treating face.

2. A treating apparatus comprising a series of feeding rolls to advance the material to be treated intermittently, a headadapted to be. contacted with said material, a treating belt passing over said head, means to reciprocate said head into and out of contact with said material, and means to advance said treating belt.

3. A surface treating apparatus comprising a series of feeding rolls to advance/a sheet of material to be treated intermittently, a head to be contacted with said materiaL'and a backing plate 'opposed to said head, and means to grip said sheet between said head and said backing face, between periods of intermittent advance thereof, said head being provided with an abrasive facing and said backing plate being provided with a soft compressible facing.

4. A surface treating apparatus comprising mechanism for advancing a sheet of material, opposed fixed and reciprocating heads between which said material is advanced, means to move said reciprocating head to press said material against said fixed head while the material is not being advanced, and to withdraw said head while the material is being advanced, and means to reciprocate said head during contact with said material, said reciprocating head being provided with the abrasive facing. l

5. In an abrasive device, a carrier for the ma-v terial to be abraded, means to advance said material over said carrier, an abrasive head, means to reciprocate said head into and out of contact with the material to be treated, and Yanother means to reciprocate said head during `contact with the material to be treated.

6. In an abrasive mechanism of the class described, a carrier arrangement for holding the material to be abraded, means to advance intermittently said material past said carrier, an abrasive face to be applied to said material upon said carrier, resilient means to apply said abrasive face to said material, and means to reciprocate said abrasion face during contact with said material.

'7. In an abrading arrangement for transparent sheet materials, feeding rolls for advancing the material, a supply roll from which the material is unrolled, a fixed contacting plate with a felt facing, a plurality of intermediate rolls for causing the sheet material to pass over said fixed vface, an abrasive carrying belt, a pulley and a head rigidly connected to each other supporting said belt, an eccentric associated withsaid pulley to tighten said belt, a ratchet associated with -said pulley for advancing said belt, detent and actuating pawls for advancing said pulley, and means for causing said-head to press said sheet against said felt facing.

8. `In an abrading machine for transparent materials, `a plurality of guide rolls over which the material is passed, a contacting head, a reciprocating drive, a resilient connection between said reciprocating drive and said head, and an abrasive carrying belt passing over said head.

J9'. In a wrapping tissue abrading machine, a carrying arrangement, means for advancing lsaid tissuethrough said carrying arrangement, a contacting head, an eccentric arrangement for rapidly reciprocating said contacting head, a resilient driving connection for moving the contacting head into and out of contact with said tissue, and an abrasive carrying belt passing over said head. '10. In an abrasionarrangement, a carrier for the material to be abraded, an abrasion face, means for causing contact of said abrasion face with said material, means for cleansing the abrasion face, and means for causing alternate contact between the abrasion face and the material to be abradedand the abrasion face and the cleansing means.

11. A process of treating sheets of material having a grained base and a non-cohesive surfacing to enable adhesive attachment thereto, which comprises pressing an abrasive against the surface of said sheet and rapidly reciprocating said abrasive longitudinally of the grain of said sheet while so pressed.

l2. A process of treated coated moisture-proof sheet materials of cellulose derivatives having grained bases to enable the adhesive attachment of labels and stamps thereto, which comprises resiliently pressing an abrasive face against the surface and causing such face to reciprocate backwardly and forwardly along the grain thereof.

13. In a surface-treating mechanism, a web carrying device, a web receiving device, means for advancing said web from said carrying device to said receiving device past an intermediate place of treatment, a support over which the web is advanced at said place of treatment, surface-treating means movable toward and away from the face of the web opposite the support for abrading vthe exposed face thereof, and means for intermittently withdrawing the surface-treating means in timed relation with the movement of the web.

14. In a surface-treating mechanism, a web carrying device, a web receiving device, means for intermittently advancing the web from said carrying device to said receiving device across a place of treatment, a support over which the web is advanced at said place of treatment, a surfacetreating tool at said place of treatment, means to move said surface-treating tool toward and away from the face of the web, and means to actuate said last-mentioned means in timed relation with the intermittent movement of the web.

15. In an abrading mechanism for a continuous strip of sheet material, a roller feeding said sheet material; means to intermittently draw said sheet material from said roller across an intermediate place of treatment, a support over which said sheet of material is moved at said place of treatment, an abrading device at said place of treatment, means to move said abrading device interinttently toward and away from the sheet of material upon said support for abrading the face thereof, means for renewing the abrading device, and means for actuating said last two mentioned means in timed relationship with the movement of the sheet. Y

16. In any abrading mechanism to produce a longitudinal series of spaced abraded areas upon a continuous strip or sheet of material, a storage roll, means intermittently to` advance said sheet of material from said roll, an abrading device to be applied to the face of said sheet of material upon withdrawal from said roll to abrade the same, and means for withdrawing the abrading device from the sheet of material in timed relationship with the movement of the sheet.

17. In an abrading mechanism to produce a longitudinal series of spaced abraded areas upon a continuous strip or sheet of material, a storage roll, means for causing an intermittent feed of said sheet of material away from said roller, an abrading device to be intermittently applied to said withdrawn sheet of material to cause the formation of abradedareas, and means to coordinate the application of the abrading device to the movement of the sheet, so that the abrading device will be in abrading contact with the sheet when it is stationary and withdrawn from the sheet when it is moving.

EUGENE P. WALKER. WILLIAM EARL WRAY.

J U'LIUS B. WALKER. 

